The Set Back
by dr100
Summary: Sarah Jane, the Doctor, Luke, Clyde, and Rani have returned to Earth, having defeated the 'Destroyer'.  But something is wrong, and they must all work out what.  A sequel to 'Missing'.
1. Chapter 1

**Sarah Jane Adventures**

**The Set Back**

**By Nathan Mullins**

* * *

><p>The streets across London were bare. There was not a sign of life, as k9 hacked into Mr Smith and forced him to scan the Earth. Only Sarah Jane, the Doctor, Luke, Clyde, and Rani were left. The Doctor was sure the Destroyer had no part in the proceedings, however the reason for the disappearances were unknown.<p>

"Come on boy, think," said the Doctor, petting K9. "What's changed?"

"There has been no indication of any change, Master," answered K9.

The Doctor stood up, turned to Sarah Jane, and frowned, uneasily.

"What are we missing, Sarah?"

Sarah Jane shook her head.

"I've no idea," she said.

"I think…" started the Doctor, turning back to Mr Smith, and taking in the information. "We need to trace the human race!" he concluded.

Mr Smith shut down, and the radar switched off. Sarah Jane led the Doctor and friends out of the house, and the Doctor took over from there.

"Now," he said, out in the cold, and wrapping himself up in his coat, he added, - "This should do the trick," and from an inside pocket, he revealed his sonic screwdriver. A small electronic sonic device.

He switched it on, and it buzzed every few seconds. Suddenly, as the Doctor twisted about, the same buzz never once stopped, and there was a trace.

"A-ha!" he yelped, excitedly. "You know, I did think, really? Why?"

"Why what, Doctor?" asked Rani.

"Why the humans would become the victims of a H2O scoop," he answered. "Have you felt the ground? Of course you haven't, I was on all fours in the attic, while petting K9, and you've a leak. Now we're in the open, you can see for yourselves the pavement is of a darker, murkier shade. It's damp!"

"But you said you discovered a trace?" said Luke, thinking back to him scanning the area.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "A single trace. I've just picked up every man, woman, and child. The entire human race!"

"But how?" asked Clyde. "There's not a man, woman, nor child in sight!"

"That's because they're hidden," said the Doctor.

"So what of the H2O scoop?" asked Sarah Jane.

"The screwdriver is incredibly accurate, and the dampness could be just down to rainfall…" explained the Doctor.

"So who's hidden the humans?" asked Rani.

"Good question," answered Sarah Jane. "Any ideas, Doctor?"

"No idea, Sarah!"

He chuckled, as she did too, together sharing a moment, a reminder of their previous travels.

"I should do, though," he said, turning to where his TARDIS was once located, only to find it too had disappeared.

"WHAT?" he bellowed. "NO! It can't have?"

The Doctor ran to the spot where he had left the TARDIS. Turning back to Sarah Jane, he said, - "We must work out who is responsible, defeat them, and save mankind!"

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sarah Jane Adventures**

**The Set Back**

**By Nathan Mullins**

* * *

><p>"How do we know the Destroyer's not behind this?" asked Rani.<p>

"The Destroyer's chained up, Rani, and he's powerless," replied Clyde.

"Oh, you think you're so cool…" smiled Rani.

Clyde winked back to her.

"Come on…" said the Doctor, racking his brain. He was pacing up and down the small drive through to 13 Bannerman Road.

"Who'd want you trapped too, Doctor?" asked Sarah Jane, joining him in his walking, up and down, in his frantic state.

"Oh, but you're right, and they're after all of us, the Ealing team, and I come by, every now and then, and I help save the day, as I am after all the Doctor, and they recognise me, from your wedding, Sarah, and my death, and those big birds, OH YES!"

The Doctor stopped. He took Sarah in his arms, and hugged her tight.

"You're brilliant!" he said, taking in the rest of them, Luke, Clyde, and Rani, and embracing them too.

"We're brilliant," said Sarah Jane, pulling free from the Doctor. "And we're going to stop this!"

"Stop what?" asked Luke.

"Stop who is ever behind all this," said Clyde. "Duh…"

"But it's too late for that," said the Doctor. "I know exactly who's behind all this!"

"Who?" whispered Sarah Jane.

"No point in whispering, Sarah," said the Doctor.

"They can hear us?" she asked him.

"They can hear us, see us, and they know all about us. They know who we are. And they know we're coming to get them. They're angry, and they've traced me, and now they're coming to get me!"

"Who are they?" Luke asked.

But there was no time to explain. There was suddenly a bright white flash, and a spark of life, as just ahead of them all appeared a creature, not only did the Doctor recognise, but so did Sarah Jane.

"RUN!" yelled the Doctor.

The team split up.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane took off at a wild pace, into the back garden.

"Doctor…" she panted, catching her breath back. "What's going on?"

"We're up against the intergalactic weed!" said the Doctor. "Of course, you already know that!"

Sarah Jane recognised the weed from her time in the Antarctic, and how Mr Chase had tried to kill her, and the fourth Doctor, in his country mansion.

"They've the TARDIS, and they want their revenge. Of course, you know they travel in pairs," said the Doctor, rattling off the facts, "-… so we're up against two of them, and one will have gone after the others, while the other will be search of us!"

"And why now?" asked Sarah Jane. "Why after so, so long?"

Luke, Clyde, and Rani were together in the house. They had bolted the door, but the creature wasn't using the main entrance. Smashing its way through a window, the creature crept inside, and sensed its victims were nearby. Luke was hiding in the kitchen, Clyde in the bathroom, and Rani in the attic.

As the creature shot up the staircase, Luke stepped out from his hiding place, and followed it up the stairs. The monster passed the bathroom, not having noticed Clyde watching through a small crack in the door frame as it passed by. He too followed it. Then it burst into the attic, and Rani leapt back in alarm.

"Keep away!" she shouted.

"Mr Smith, I need you!" screamed Rani, as the creature slithered closer.

Mr Smith had shut down, as before.

"Mr Smith!" she yelled, desperately. "I really, really need you!"

The creature leaped forward, and Rani thought this was it.

**To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sarah Jane Adventures**

**The Set Back**

**By Nathan Mullins**

* * *

><p>There was a hiss and a shudder as Rani was forced forwards, as Mr Smith appeared, firing on the creature as it wobbled forward, it's plant like features lashing out. The creature fell into a heap, and so there was only one to go.<p>

Rani turned to the computer in the wall.

"Mr Smith, you've saved my life," she said, happily.

"I am here to help, Rani," answered Mr Smith.

Luke and Clyde entered the attic, staring at the heap of soil and leaves on the floorboards.

"Mum's not gonna be happy," said Luke. "She only cleaned up in here this morning…" he joked.

"It feels like we've been away for ages, though," said Rani, hugging her two best friends.

"Yeah, but it has only been a single day," said Clyde. "Weird though, what with defeating the Destroyer, and having the Doctor around…"

"Yeah," said Luke. "Time goes haywire when he's involved!"

"Come on!" said Clyde. "We'd best find the Doctor and Sarah!"

"That's Sarah Jane to you," Luke told him.

"Yeah, I know," said Clyde. "I'd just like to see her face when I only call her Sarah…"

Upon leaving the attic, Luke and Clyde ran on ahead. Rani thanked Mr Smith, and asked if the creature was completely dead.

"The creatures, best known as Krynoids do not appreciate heat, and so this life form has been defeated…"

"Heat's what kills them?" she asked, as she left Mr Smith and re-joined her friends.

There was one Krynoid left. As it searched the grounds for the Doctor and Sarah Jane, it sensed they were nearby. Rani joined Luke and Clyde some way behind the creature, from the back door. The Krynoid shifted across the grass, lurching two and fro as it neared its victims hide out.

Rani whispered to Luke, - "I think I know what kills them?"

"What's that?" he asked her.

"Heat," she said.

The Doctor, meanwhile, turned to Sarah Jane, and whispered, - "Have you a dog whistle at all?"

"For K9?" asked Sarah Jane.

"Exactly," said the Doctor. "We need K9!"

"Why k9?" she asked.

"Well, his laser, and the fact that he's mobile…"

"Wait, that's it!" grinned Sarah. "I contact Mr Smith through my mobile phone, and get Mr Smith to get through to K9!"

"Oh, Sarah…" the Doctor mused, the pompous ways of the fourth Doctor coming across in this new Doctor's mannerisms. "That's brilliant!"

Sarah Jane took out her phone, and dialled for Mr Smith.

"Yes, Sarah Jane, how may I help you?"

Mr Smith had received the call.

"Is K9 with you?" she asked him.

Suddenly appearing before the supercomputer, K9 stared up at the monitor, and asked, - "May I please speak to the Mistress?"

"Directing call through to K9!" Mr Smith announced, before the call was in K9's manoeuvrability.

"Ms Smith?" answered K9. "How can I help you?"

**To be continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sarah Jane Adventures**

**The Set Back**

**By Nathan Mullins**

* * *

><p>The Krynoid edged nearer and nearer to the Doctor and Sarah Jane's hiding place. It wasn't long until it would discover them. Luke watched from afar, his mum crouched behind a bush beside the Doctor. He too, could do very little.<p>

"Come out, Doctor!" ordered the Krynoid, almost on top of them now.

"It can talk?" said Rani, watching beside Luke, helplessly.

Sarah Jane had wondered exactly that.

"Of course it can, Sarah! Remember, ages ago, okay, not that long ago, but it's there, you remember, the memories, of the Krynoid, and we defeated it, OH YES!"

Suddenly, without realising it, the Doctor had yelled that last bit, and revealed their hiding places.

"Oops," he said, covering his mouth, turning to Sarah Jane. "RUN!" he yelled, as they darted across the lawn towards the house.

Clyde appeared with two big sticks, and throwing one to Luke, they fought off the Krynoid while the Doctor and Sarah Jane slipped past.

"Where's K9?" asked Sarah Jane.

They met with the dog in the hall. He was at the very top of the staircase, struggling to get down.

"Oh, K9," huffed Sarah Jane.

"Naughty boy!" frowned the Doctor, turning back to the rage of the Krynoid outside. Luke and Clyde had sealed the door, but the creature was still desperate to gain entry, and wasn't going to give up.

"K9," said the Doctor, alive with the energy of his will to succeed. "Can you save us? Using your lazar, we can defeat the Krynoid!"

"Unable to help, Master," answered K9, whimpering almost. "My power packs are exhausted in my effort to beat the stairs," he continued.

The Doctor ducked as the swings in the garden came crashing through the back door. Smashing its way inside, the Krynoid reached out for the Sarah Jane.

"NO!" the Doctor yelled, snatching at the tendril with her in its grip.

"Doctor?" she yelped, in the Krynoid's grasp.

"Sarah Jane…" mimed Rani. Aloud, she called up to her, - "What can we do?"

"Mum, you'll be alright," yelled Luke. Turning to the Doctor, he asked, - "Is there anything we can do to save her?"

"Heat," whispered the Doctor. "Heat kills these life forms, but we've nothing, absolutely nothing, unless…" He paused, and reconsidered. "An explosion," he said, finally. "But all this, the attic, no wait," he added. "A contained explosion. An explosion designed to only eradicate the Krynoid, oh, but it'll be difficult and we haven't time…"

The Doctor stopped thinking, and turned back to the Krynoid. Looking up towards the ceiling, he met Sarah's gaze, as the Krynoid held her tight around the waist.

"Do you trust me, Sarah?" he called up to her.

"Of course I trust you," she shouted back to him.

"Then, this is what I'd have you all do," said the Doctor, huddling about the three teenagers. "We need all the gas turned up, the boiler switched on, and my sonic screwdriver."

His eyes flashed from side to side. The excited looks he gave to all three of his old friends gave them goose bumps.

"I'm on it," said Clyde, doing as the Doctor asked.

He turned up the gas, and ran upstairs to switch the boiler on.

"Now," said the Doctor, turning his attention back towards the Krynoid, as it lingered in the living room, observing the Doctor and his young companion's actions. "I'm going to give you a clear warning, and you will then make a decision, and, um… do your best," he said, with a wink and a grin. "Leave here, leaving Sarah Jane Smith, the Earth, and I unharmed, and that includes my three young assistants here…"

"Hey," frowned Rani.

"Well, you are my three young assistants," replied the Doctor. "You're Sarah Jane's companions, as she was mine," he added.

Sarah Jane smiled.

"I will crush Sarah Jane Smith, and then you, Doctor, will be next, and then your three accomplices…" declared the Krynoid.

"Why?" asked the Doctor. He asked a very simple question.

"The Krynoid life form you had destroyed long ago Doctor, had germinated, and in the destruction, pods grew in the fires of the gardens of that paradise. I am seeking revenge, on you, and your kind!" it hissed, as it slithered forward, trying to rake the Doctor in with its mighty tendrils.

"I gave you a warning," said the Doctor. "And this is the outcome of that warning!"

And setting the dials of his sonic screwdriver, he switched on. The sonic vibrations of the small device tapped the gas and the settings of the boiler upstairs, and a wave of heat on a sonic scale burst into the living room surrounding the Krynoid. At first, the Krynoid felt nothing. Neither the Doctor, Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde, and Rani did, until suddenly, the creature relaxed its grip on Sarah and burnt to cinders.

"What did you do?" asked Sarah Jane.

"There was a mighty explosion, but we were all too busy to notice it. I contained it, you see? The sonic screwdriver is, well, sonic, and I used it to contain a mighty explosion. But I'm afraid you're neither going to be able to cook anything, or have a warm bath until the gas man arrives within two days of having received far too many complaints of the gas supply around the country being far too low. I may have just had all the gas bills risen, but at least you're safe in the comfort of your own home."

There was a wheeze and a shudder from outside. The TARDIS had materialised, and there was a startling noise coming from the streets beyond Bannerman Road. The Doctor made his farewells, and then left in the blue box, and Sarah Jane discovered the noise of the return of the millions of people all over the world were celebrating their return to civilisation by having street parties all over the planet.

The Earth was safe, and so was Luke, Clyde, Rani, the Doctor, and Sarah Jane Smith.


End file.
